Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1887-04-01
EPHESUS' SEVEN SLEEPERS.
The Legend Which Accounts for
Their Long maps"

OF AfghanlStan sends the following
variant upon the story of the Seven
Sleepers of Ephesus: 1t seems that the
grave of the Seven Seepers, which in
the Koran is ii ted at Ephesus, is in
reality in the hirak valley, on the
Afghan frontier. some four miles to the
southwest of the Anglo-Russian camp
at Chahar Samba. The version of the
Koran (says the correspondent is that
seven men, firm in the faith of their
God, separated from the rest of their
tribe, who had taken to other gods,
and taking refuge in cave were caused
to sleep there with their dog, for
three hundred and tfty-nine years. The
Eshans, of Khwajah Altai Azizan.
change the scene from Ephesus to
Turkestan, and tell very different
story. The King Dakianus, they say,
was originally shepherd of Shibbar-
ghah, and tended his tiocks in the hills
for twelve years, till one day he found
slab of stone with an inscription on
1t. Not being able to decipher the lat
ter, he showed it to n moollah, who
told him it was a record of hidden
treasure. Having possessed himself
of the treasure and killed the moollah
Dakianus took service with the King.
and after some time rose to the COM
mand of an army. He soon rot the
army on his side. seized the kingdom
and eventually conquered the world.
When thus in supreme power the devil
appeared before Dakianus in the form
OF the angel Gabriel, and tempted him
by telling him that God had sent him
to say that lie was God of the heavens,
but that Dakianus was god of the earth.
Daklanus, who was worshiper of one
God, refused to believe the devil, and
told the latter he was not the true
angel Gabriel. The devil then offered
to prove that he was, by proposing
test, that if certain fish on top of the
water went down on his approach he
was the true angel Gabriel, but if it
remained up he was an imposter. Ac-
cordingly Dakianus and the devil went
together TO the bank of the river. and
no sooner did the fish see the devil than
he at once dived down. Dakianus be-
lieved the test, and acknowledged the
devil as the angel Gabriel, left off the
worship of the true God, and. at
the DEVILS tempting him. set himself
up as a god on his own account One
day, however, when eating his food,
Dakianus was bothered by flies, which,
do what he would, he could not get rid
OF. His servants said to themselves
''He calls himself God. and vet can not
get rid OF the flies that bother him. He
is no god" Ard they determined to
leave him. Six men went oil, and on
the second day fell in with shepherd,
from whom they begged bread and
water. The shepherd gave them all he
had, and asked them where they came
from and where they were going to.
They told him their story, and how they
were fleeing from Dakianus and wished
to hide, and the shepherd agreed to ac-
company them in their flight. The
shepherds dog also followed his mas
ter, and the men told him to drive the
dog back, lest he should betray their
whereabouts. The shepherd objected,
saying the dog had been his faithful
companion for years; but the others in
sisted, and the shepherd at last struck
the dog with his stick, breaking one of
its legs. The dog still followed, and
another leg. But the dog still con-
tinued to crawl after them, and the
m en- struck with pity, eventually took
it in turns to carry it on with them.
The shepherd guided them all to this
very cave that he knew of, and once
there they all went to sleep, and never
woke for 500 years.
In the Koran it is distinctly stated
that the sleepers were seven in number.
and the eighth was their dog, but either
the Arabic of the Koran is beyond the
Sayeds, or they prefer a story of their
own. Whichever it is, there is no
doubt of the realism of of the latter
portion of their tale, as any one who
knows the affection the shepherds here
have for their great savage, shaggy
coated dogs and the huge sticks that
the shepherds always carry will testify.
Further on the story, however, the
worthy Sayeds get more confused still,
and they have it that the sleepers
awoke twice--once in the time of Haz-
rat Esa, or Christ, and again in the
time of the prophet. The story is,
they say, that when these three men
and the shepherd awoke, they felt hun
CRY and sent one of their number to go
to the city near by. called Shahr-i-
Afsoz, to buy bread. On arrival he
found the place much altered, and the
first baker he went to refused to accept |
his money. Another to whom he APP
piled asked him where he got hismoney |
from. The man said it was his own |
and from his own house. He was then |
told to point out his house. but he |
could not at first, and eventually rec
Dgnized it by a mulberry tree, and |
going in he told them to dig in GER
Iain place. and there they found. sure
enough. his store, jar full of Daki-
anus coins. The then owner of the
aouse protested and claimed the house J